Duration: Annual

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Winter spring ephemeral, stems reaching 25 cm, but usually shorter and stemless. Herbage with small, coarse white hairs, not glandular.

Leaves: Blades 9-21 mm, ovate to heart-shaped or rounded in outline, usually 3-lobed or parted, margins toothed, petioles 10-42 mm.

Flowers: Umbels 2-3 flowered, petals pink to purple, readily falling, longer than the sepals; fruiting sepals 5.5-9 mm.

Fruits: Beak of fruit 3.2-5 cm long.

Ecology: Widespread, mostly at lower elevations on sandy or fine-textured soils, sometimes among rocks from 1,000-5,000 ft (305-1524 m); flowers February-April.

Distribution: TX to s UT and se CA

Notes: Common as E. cicutarium, but easily distinguishable by the flowers. 

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Erodium is Greek for heron, which comes from the bill-like fruit, texanum refers to Texas.

Synonyms: None

Editor: SBuckley, 2010